брифинг американского минобороныSo here we are, day 75. There's actually -- I know it's been a while since we did this -- but there's really not a whole heck of a lot of change to speak to today.
We continue to see Russia -- Russian artillery bombardment -- and offensive ground operations south of Izyum, more in the direction of Lyman -- L-Y-M-A-N -- which is to the southeast of Izyum there, moving in that direction.
And we believe their intent is, as we talked about last week, is to -- is to assault Slovyansk -- which, if you look at a map, is just about due east of Lyman and also try to take over the various lines of communication in that northern area of the Donbas but they've made, again, very limited progress on that line of access over the last few days, like single-digit kilometer kind of progress, cause the Ukrainians keep keep pushing them back and keep fighting them back. So not a lot of progress at all.
75-й день, почти ничего не изменилось с последнего брифинга.
Раша бомбит артиллерией и наступает к югу от Изюма, по направлению к Лиману.
Мы думаем, они хотят в Словянск, но у них почти никакого прогресса в последние дни, типа прогресс в единицах километров. Потому что украинцы отпихивают их.
The same could be said in the south. We talked last week about the majority of the battalion tactical groups that were dedicated to Mariupol moving north and sort of stopping just south of a town called -- and I don't mean to be disrespectful, I'll do my best to pronounce this right -- but Velyka Novosilka.
And we still assess that they are arrayed south of that town, they have not moved up that. So there's been virtually no progress in the south. And we still estimate that about the equivalent of -- and I want to be careful -- it's not two BTGs specifically, but it’s about the equivalent of two BTGs are still dedicated to the Mariupol area.
то же самое на юге. Мы говорили, что большинство БТГ отошли от Мариуполя на юг от города - ничего личного, я стараюсь произнести - Велика Новосилка.
Они до сих пор к югу от этого города и не продвинулись. Вообще нет прогресса. И до сих пор кол-во равное примерно двум БТГ осталось в Мариуполе.
And Mariupol continues to come under airstrikes. They are still launching weapons into Mariupol. Other airstrikes, long-range missile fires, we've seen in and around Odesa and in the -- unsurprisingly, in the northern part of the Donbas area, which, I guess, is, again, perfectly consistent with what we've seen in the last few days. So honestly, there's just not a lot of dramatic change to speak to on the ground.
Мариуполь продолжают бомбить. До сих пор продолжают. Одессу тоже, ну и конечно северную часть Донбаса.
А так никаких изменений.
And, you know, not a whole heck of a lot to talk about in the maritime environment. I think you all saw video footage and Ukrainian comments about Snake Island and some strikes that they conducted there. We're still trying to process that and figure out everything that they hit and what was all behind that, and I don't have a whole lot of detail on that. We think there was at least three targets hit from airstrikes on Snake Island, but as for overarching effect, it's -- I think we're still trying to figure figure all that out.
на море тоже не о чем говорить. Вы наверно видели кадры про Змеиный остров, что украинцы там что-то разбомбили. Мы до сих пор пытаемся оценить это всё, у меня нет деталей. Вроде бы 3 цели там поразили, но в целом какой прок - мы пытаемся оценить.
Around Kharkiv, still assess Russian and Ukrainian contact there, with the Ukrainians continuing to push Russian forces further to the east, but not a whole lot difference -- I think less than 45 kilometers now they may’ve been able to push the Russians to the east of Kharkiv. That's not all that different than when we talked about last week but it's a little bit of progress and they keep pushing them out.
вокруг Харькова, украинцы продолжают отпихивать рашистов на восток, но пока мало разницы, на 45 км отпихнули.
Let's see. And then from other seven -- in the last 24, there's been 13 deliveries from seven different nations have arrived at various trans-shipment sites throughout the region. So we're continuing to help coordinate lots of deliveries from lots of different countries.
And, you know, I won't list the countries and what they've been giving but it's everything from additional 155 rounds to 122 millimeter rounds to shotguns, spare parts, Humvees, generators, even a couple of additional howitzers, M777s. So lots of different stuff coming from lots of different countries, and again, we're trying to help coordinate the delivery of that.
7 других стран тоже прислали украинцам посылки, мы помогаем эти доставки тоже координировать.
Я не буду говорить, какие страны, но там хорошие вещи, снаряды для гаубиц, запчасти, хамви (вседорожники), генераторы, пара гаубиц ещё.
On the training front, more than 310 Ukrainian soldiers now have completed M777 training. There's another 50-plus that are currently going through yet another course. Let's see. We've also started a two-week M777 maintainer course and we expect that the first class will begin training today -- that's the plan. So that's a new development, to help them with maintenance on the howitzers, now that they're getting so many in the country.
On the Q-64 mobile air defense radar, 15 Ukrainian soldiers have completed that training and there's a second class will begin training today.
Let's see. On the M113, 60 Ukrainian military have completed that course and another 45-plus will complete the second course on the M113 team today. So lots of the graduations today.
По обучению - 310 украинцев научились стрелять из гаубиц, ещё 50 начали курс. Ещё мы начали двухнедельные курсы по поддержке гаубиц, им пригодится.
15 украинцев научились пользоваться радарами, вторая группа сегодня приступает к обучению.
60 научились водить БТРы, и ещё 45 сегодня закончит обучение.
Q: And then just a broad one. There has been reports, I think you sort of mentioned on a number of strikes in and around Odesa, do you see any shift in Russian intentions to move more aggressively towards Odesa?
SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Yes, on Odesa, the airstrike activity has not been insignificant there. And we're not seeing any move -- or actually any ability for the Russians to move on Odesa. I mean, there was fighting between Kherson and Mykolaiv over the last 24, they have not taken Mykolaiv. And so there is no ground threat to Odesa right now. And there is no real maritime threat to Odesa either because, as I said earlier, the Black Sea Fleet is staying well off the coast. So there are some strikes there.
We think, again, we don't have perfect visibility, but we think part of the reason they're striking there is to continue to sort of -- by posing a threat to Odesa, maybe pinning down Ukrainian forces in or around that area so that they are not available or they won't feel like they should be made available to move to the Donbas to support other Ukrainian forces there.
That’s an assumption. We don't know that for sure. But the airstrikes that are in and around Odesa are not, we don't believe, indicative of some imminent move on Odesa either from the sea or from the ground. In fact, they don't have the ability to do that right now.
- вы говорили, они начали сильнее обстреливать Одессу. Вы видите признаки того, что они надумали наступать на неё?
- Да, Одессу бомбят. Нет, мы не видели попыток - вообще прямо сказать, мы не видим для них никакой возможности наступать на Одессу. Там бои между Херсоном и Николаевым, Николаев они не захватили. Поэтому нет угрозы Одессе. И на море тоже ничего не надвигается, они так и торчат подальше от берега.
Но есть удары, да.
Мы думаем, может быть, это они так угрожают Одессе, чтобы военные силы недайбох не бросили её и не пошли на Донбас.
Это просто предположение, мы не знаем. Но эти удары не означают, что они собрались двигать на Одессу. Они просто не могут.
Q:
Can you describe a little bit more information available the nature of the fight that's happening in the Donbas? What we saw probably in the area of the capital Kyiv is like more close contact. Short distance, is it different in the Donbas?
SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: It's a different terrain; they’re applying I think some different tactics. I don't think comparing it to Kyiv is really a fair comparison since Kyiv is a, you know, the capital city. It's in a different part of the country, more forested, more hilly.
And much more urban, the Donbas is flat, it's open, it's a lot of farmland. And it's a lot of small towns and villages and what we're seeing is they are trying to do what we -- in the U.S. military -- refer to it as combined arms maneuver.
Meaning that you're moving all of your capabilities in some sort of orchestrated, organized fashion. And they're trying to do that but they have not been very successful. They're -- they're falling a lot back on their doctrine, which is to shell an area you want to get to, soak it with artillery to soften up the defense and then move your ground forces in only when you think it's -- they're able to do that.
And the problem for them is that the Ukrainians also have artillery and long-range fires and they now have a lot more of them. And they're proving to be resistant to that final approach by the Russians.
They're hitting back with their artillery, and they are quite good at operational maneuver in this part of the country. Since both nations have been fighting, again, over this for eight years. The Ukrainians know the terrain very, very well. So there's been a lot of back and forth on these small towns and villages.
And the Russians just have not been able to make any significant progress at all. It is not helped by the fact that -- so -- not helped by the fact that they haven't been able to integrate their fires with their maneuver. It's helped by the weather.
It's very muddy there so they are pretty much restricted to paved roads. Number two, or sorry, number three, they haven't fixed all their logistics and sustainment issues, we still see them struggling to resupply their troops. And I am cautious to get out ahead of that.
So they're moving slowly because they don't want to make the same mistakes that they made in Kyiv. And then lastly, just command and control and unit cohesion. We still see anecdotal reports of poor morale of troops. And the officers refusing to obey orders, and move.
And not really sound command and control from a leadership perspective. So that's the best I can do in answering that question.
- расскажите, каков характер боёв на Донбасе. Под Киевом были скорее ближние бои (close contact?). На Донбасе так же?
- другая топография, другая тактика. Не думаю, что стоит сравнивать с Киевом, это столица, там другая местность, больше лесов и холмов.
И более городская местность, а Донбас плоский и много полей. Мы видим, что они пытаются сделать, что называется, combined arms maneuver (общевойсковые манёвры). Т.е. это когда ты двигаешь всё, что есть, организованно. Они вроде это пытаются провернуть, но по-своему, по-рашистки. Плохо. И постоянно скатываются к своей любимой доктрине - разбомбить область, а потом двигать туда, типа там всё свободно.
Но у них проблемка - у украинцев тоже есть артилерия. И орудия дальнего действия. И теперь у них их мноого. И у рашистов не получается.
Украинцы их тоже обстреливают из артилерии, и они хороши в манёврах. Поэтому у них в этих городках и деревнях туда-сюда.
И у рашистов почти нет прогресса. И им не помогает, что они не могут скоординировать удары и манёвры. И погода не помогает. Грязно.
Ну и как обычно, логистика. Опять проблемы пополнения.
И наконец, командование. Мы слышим слухи, что у них там разгильдяйство, офицеры отказываются выполнять приказы.
Q:
And then secondly just real fast on the May 9 plans, I know obviously Putin didn't announce a major mobilization, but has the DOD seen any signs that Russia could mobilizes more forces? Obviously the Wagner Group making a cry for more forces over the weekend.
SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: No. We don't have any major reinforcements that we've seen or that we have indications of. Regardless of May 9 we just haven't seen that.
- про планы на 9 мая. Путин похоже не об'явил мобилизацию, но вы не видели ли случайно признаков, что раша таки мобилизирует больше сил? группа вагнера в выходные чо-то призывала добровольцев.
- нет, мы не видим пополнения сил или каких-то признаков. Независимо от 9 мая.
Q: And anything new on the efforts to strike that second ship that you were not too aware of on Friday?
SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Yes. We have no information. We have no indication and no information to corroborate reports that another ship was attacked.
- а есть какие-то новости про удар по второму кораблю? в пятницу у вас ничо не было
- нет, до сих пор нет никакой информации
Q:
Quick question about the characterization. How would you characterize the overall Russian effort in the Donbas region right now? Is it stalled? I mean, I know we talk about it being dynamic with both sides moving and taking over towns, but overall in a sense has the Russian push there been successful? How would we characterize it?
SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: I would not characterize it as successful, not at all. They really haven't achieved any significant progress on the lines of access that they had anticipated achieving in the Northern Donbas. They are being resisted very effectively by the Ukrainians, so again, I'd go back to the word I used last week. Incremental and somewhat anemic is how I would describe it so far.
- как бы вы в общем описали усилия раши на Донбасе? Оно заглохло? Т.е. я понимаю, что там тяжёлые бои, но в смысле вот рашистское наступление в целом оно как? успешное?
- Успешным его точно не назовёшь. Они не достигли того, чего хотели. Украинцы очень эффективно сопротивляются. В общем, как я и говорил на прошлой неделе - незначительное и вялое.
Q: Okay. All right, on sanctions, you know, two and a half months into the war, what impact have U.S. sanctions had on Russian capabilities to resupply its forces and to manufacturer munitions? Anything in particular you can point to?
SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Yes, we've seen they have blown through a lot of their PGMs. In fact, they continue to hit Mariupol with a lot of dumb bombs. And so, they're having inventory issues with precision-guided munitions and they're having trouble replacing PGMs, and we do believe that the sanctions and the export controls, particularly when it comes to components, electronic components has had an effect on the Russian defense industrial base and their ability to restock PGMs, so that's one example.
- а что вы думаете, санкции мешают им пополнять боеприпасы?
- да, мы видим, что они сильно потратили свои запасы высокоточного оружия. В Мариуполе они перешли на тупые бомбы. Явно у них проблемы с высокоточными, экономят. И мы думаем, что санкции мешают им производить новые, особенно санкции на ввоз электронных компонентов.
Q:
And then also, I'm just wondering about the Ukrainians asked for self-propelled artillery, like the Paladin and also the MLRS. Can you tell us, since we're kind of on background here, what would be the reason that we haven't fulfilled those requests yet? Is there a strategic reason to that?
SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Yeah, Lara, I think it's better for me, even on background, to just not get ahead of decisions here on drawdown packages. Every time we do one, we'll announce what's in there for you, but the conversations that we're having with the Ukrainians, I think, we feel is better kept between us and the Ukrainians.
What I could tell you is we're in constant touch with them and every single package is coordinated with them and they know what they're getting and it's a result of a conversation with them.
And I think, for our part, we're going to keep our conversations with them private, and our announcements of what they're going to get, well, obviously we'll make those public.
- интересно, вот украинцы просили у вас самоходные гаубицы, типа паладинов, и MLRS (ракетные установки). А почему вы им не даёте? Есть какая-то причина?
- Мне кажется, мне не стоит тут забегать вперёд решений, что передать украинцам. Когда решим, тогда и скажем. И наши разговоры с украинцами пусть останутся между нами.
Могу сказать, что мы с ними постоянно общаемся и каждая поставка с ними согласована.
И мы будем и дальше скрывать детали разговоров, и когда захотим, тогда и об'явим.
Q: Just strategically, without giving anything away, can you give us some context about why these may be the right or the wrong weapons for them?
SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Again, this is a constant conversation we have with the Ukrainians about their needs. We know that long range fires are important. These howitzers are already in the fight -- not all of them but, I mean, we know that some of them are -- and the feedback we're getting from the Ukrainians are that they're very valuable. So I'm just going to leave it there.
- не, ну чисто стратегически, есть какая-то причина не давать?
- Ещё раз, мы постоянно с ними общаемся про их нужды. Мы знаем, что орудия дальнего действия очень важны. Эти гаубицы уже в бою - пока не все, но некоторые, - и нам рассказывают, что их очень любят.
